About CHG • CHG Members • Events • Contact Us • Resource Links • Become Involved • Home Members of Connecticut's Historic GardensThankful Arnold House Museum
 Thankful Arnold House Museum
14 Hayden Hill Road
Haddam, CT 06438 | 860.345.2400
Museum Open Year Round
Wednesday 9 am–3 pm; Thursday 2–8 pm; Friday 12–3 pm
Memorial Day to Columbus Day
Sunday, 1–4 pm
Also open by appointment.
The garden is free to enjoy during daylight hours for self-guided tours.
www.haddamhistory.org
Wilhelmina Ann Arnold Barnhart Memorial Garden
Named after a direct descendent of Joseph and Thankful Arnold, the original garden was designed and dedicated in 1973. The garden was given in memory of Wilhelmina Ann Arnold Barnhart by her father Isaac Arnold, the benefactor of the Thankful Arnold House. The original garden design was created by Sally Marvin of Bloomfield, Connecticut and featured an orchard, berry beds and bench garden.
 The gardens were redesigned in the late 1980s in the Colonial Revival style with granite-edged beds and gravel paths. In 2000 the Connecticut Herb Study Group conducted extensive research to select plants commonly grown in household gardens in the lower Connecticut River Valley in about 1830. Most of the garden is now devoted to herbs used for cooking, medicine, dyeing, fragrance and other household uses, with a small bed featuring vegetables common in gardens in the early 1800s and a few old-fashioned annuals. Over 50 varieties of herbs are planted in the garden, including many of the ones Thankful Arnold would have used in about 1830. Although Thankful's garden would have been larger and simpler in design, the garden is an informative, pleasant, relaxing place for visitors. The garden, which has been recognized by the National Home Gardening Club, was featured in the summer 2003 issue of People, Places and Plants magazine.
The garden at the Arnold House is overseen by a handful of dedicated volunteers, who maintain it from early spring to late fall. The garden is open daily during daylight hours. A guided tour of the garden is available during museum hours and by appointment.
For hours, admission information and directions, and for an excerpt from the Widow Arnold's tour of the garden, visit www.ctlandmarks.org/bellamy-ferriday.
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